Introduction
Vampires... Throughout the shadowy world of ghosts and demons there is no figure so terrible, no figure so dreaded and abhorred, yet dight with such fearful fascination, as the vampire, who is himself neither ghost nor demon, but yet who partakes the dark natures and and possesses the mysterious and terrible qualities of both. ''- Rev. Montague Summers'' If there is in this world a well-attested account, it is that of vampires. Nothing is lacking: official reports, affidavits of well-known people, of surgeons, of priests, of magistrates; the judicial proof is most complete. And with all that, who is there who believes in vampires? '' ''- Roussea 'Quotes' "She walked under the stars ripping out mens hearts and feasting upon their life- giving blood under the pale moon light" ''- Book of Set'' "almost too pretty to be truly beautiful" And that day will two monsters be parted, one monster, a female named Leviathan in order to dwell in the abyss of the ocean over the fountains of water; and (the other), a male called Behemoth which holds his chest in an invisible desert whose name is Dundayin, east of the garden of Eden.' -1 Enoch 60:7-8'' "Obey the rules of the ghoul scholl by disobeying the rules of convention" - Emily the Strange '''Origins ''' Vampires Cannot Exist In Sunlight We must remember the date and times of these beliefs were many centuries ago. Vampires were believed to be servants of Satan; they were demons capable of all types of magic and trickery. They were creatures of evil who found strength in acts of darkness. The word darkness actually meant evil, such as the darkness of the soul. The sun represented light, God represented light. The sun is fire, fire purifies. Therefore, if the sun is light, God is light, God created the sun, the sun's light, light purifies, a Vampire could not stand the light of day. Because its evil would be destroyed by the purifying rays of the sun, therefore destroying the Vampire. It is church belief that no evil, not even Lucifer himself, is stronger than God. Therefore in the light of God, i.e.: in the presences of God, no Vampire could survive. This accounts for the belief that Vampires cannot enter a church, stand on holy ground, survive in the light of day, or survive in sunlight. ''' 'Cross and Holy Water '''Bram Stoker was Christian, haven't you ever found it amusing to read a Vampire story where the Vampires always attack Catholics or Christians? There has been only one story I know of, well perhaps two, where the Vampire has attacked a Jewish person, or where the Vampire has been a Jewish person. Again, we come back to church lore, with the cross and crucifix as holy symbols of the Christian faith. The cross represents Christ and in most Vampire movies, Christ is a representation of God. Hence we go back to the original explanations ... the cross represents God, God represents light, light purifies, Vampires are not stronger than God, Vampires cannot be in a holy place ... therefore a cross, which represents God and purification will burn a Vampire, destroy a Vampire and a Vampire cannot look upon a cross.As far as vampires being burned and repelled by holy water, here again we are dealing with purification. This time not fire, but water. Holy water is blessed by a priest and God. That gives it the property of extreme good as opposed to the property of extreme evil. It gives the water a cleansing and purifying nature, hence a Vampire is burned, repelled or destroyed in much the same way as if he were in sunlight; All due to purification. And now let's look at one of the oldest legends around... 'Reflection Cannot Be Seen In Mirror ''' Again we are going back to the foundations of good and evil and how it affects the soul. A Vampire is believed to have no soul because it is a demon. For some reason, which was never made clear, it has been a long held folk belief that a soul can be reflected in a mirror. Therefore a Vampire with no soul could not be reflected in a mirror.I have always found this amusing especially with regard to the Catholic church's view on animals having no soul. According to the oldest beliefs of the Roman Catholic church, God bestowed souls only to humans. Animals are believed to have no soul, just as Vampires are believed to have no soul. Vampires have no soul because they are evil, animals have no soul because they are not human. And yet animals are reflected in mirrors .... interesting, is it not? Now we will look at some folk myths, but you must keep in mind the folk myths are still originating from some form of church myths.